Driven: Smart Roadster Brabus Xclusive

Hello once again, petrolheads!

It’s finally the time to review my latest acquisition: the Brabus tuned version of my beloved Smart Roadster.

My passion for the Smart Roadster is well known and documented, but ever since I bought my first Roadster (the 60kW intermediate variant), I wondered: how much fun is the top of the range Brabus? I mean, with those looks it’s impossible to be something other than phenomenal, right? Sub-1,2m in height, 17” wheels with massive tires, leather-clad interior with aluminium touches and 19 horsepower more … It simply looks irresistible. The latest versions, called Xclusive, add a couple of touches to the standard Brabus, whose specification also changed with the appearance of this top equipment level (then it also appeared a cheaper, equipment-stripped Brabus Finale). However, despite prices starting at a hefty 27k € (in Germany), the options list was still long. For instance, not every single Brabus Xclusive Roadster I have seen has – wait for it – air con! Colour options were only two: black or silver (by this time, the standard Brabus was given the opportunity of additional colours, such as yellow, red or blue) and power steering, trip computer, cruise-control, hard top or Sat Nav weren’t standard kit.

However, buying a Roadster Brabus today is a complex task. You see, every Roadster is very likely to have been abused during its lifetime, especially the first ones, so it’s needless to say the Brabus even more. It was produced in an even smaller volume – at 3 336 units in total, it’s less than 8% of the total Roadster production. And most importantly, nowadays, the vast majority of Roadsters have already found their long-term owners, so the few which come by are mostly the spent, trouble-prone units. Even so, back in November of 2012, a particular Ad caught my eye: the biggest Mercedes-Benz retailer of Lisbon had this late year 2005, 18k km (11k miles) Brabus Xclusive for sale. It was expensive, but because of its provenience and low mileage I thought it was worth to see, so the very next day a sales man brought it to my working place. It wasn’t my favourite Brabus configuration – I prefer the all-black Roadster-Coupé – but because of its near immaculate condition, it was very tempting. But then I couldn’t quite believe what I discovered while inspecting the car: this unit was one of very few without power steering! On the test drive, despite the permanent rain, I discovered another Roadster with that crisp, communicative steering feel partly absent on the Roadsters with power steering. That’s when I decided to buy it.

Despite the steering feel being pretty similar between both Roadsters – just about perfect – that’s pretty much where the similarities end. I must admit: the Brabus Roadster was somewhat of a disappointment.

The Brabus exterior is pretty much perfect, because the car sits 17mm lower than standard and the massive 17” wheels fill the wheel arches perfectly. The addition of side skirts and a front apron give the illusion of an even lower height, and the double chrome central exhaust rounded by two fat tires really make the rear mean business (I don’t like the rear spoiler though). The specific exhaust also makes the engine sound way more deep and muscular at low revs, but they still sound similar at high revs.

The interior is also a less plasticky, more high-quality place to be: where the standard Roadster has textile surfaces, the Brabus Xclusive has leather; the hand-brake lever, carved from a single aluminium part, together with silver-coloured plastic bits (to give the illusion of further aluminium use) and a start button on top of the gearlever definitely add a sense of occasion.

So far so good, then. The problem resides in the dynamic front, where the standard 60kW Roadster shines. Put simply, the Brabus isn’t as good. The drop in ride height, which visually is sooooooo cool, means that the intercooler air entrance (underneath the car) sits a mere 4 finger above the road, so a mere speed bump can be a problem. Ride comfort is another one, because the shorter springs are more rigid and the ultra low-profile tires absorb no shock from something bigger than a sand grain. That means that it’s up for your bottom and spine to absorb all of the impacts the wheels find, which makes it tiresome. The wheels itself – a single-piece, lightweight aluminium – are extremely fragile, so every pothole can send a wheel to the bin. A factory fresh set costs almost three thousand euros…

Sure, you may say, but the standard Roadster rolls a bit on corners while the Brabus almost doesn’t show any body roll at all. That’s true, but the stiff suspension setup means that, for example, on road joints in the middle of a corner, the car loses its line while the standard Roadster, with its 15” wheels and softer suspension setup, absorbs the impact and maintains the line. That really annoys me, because the Roadster is all about accuracy, and that behavior means lack of it. On perfect asphalt the oversized tires and the stiff suspension mean cornering speeds are simply astonishing, in the dry you would need to be mental in order to make the back step out. Understeer still plagues it in the bends though, because despite having more rubber at the front it still lacks weight to push it down. That’s relatively speaking of course, because on the same place a regular car cannot even reach the same speed.

The other major problem of the Brabus regards its engine and is called turbo lag. To find another 19 PS on the same basic engine, Brabus upgraded the intercooler – now a charger cooler (air-to-water), enlarged the TIK pipe and allowed boost to go up to 1.4 bar (1.0 bar on the 60kW), together with reinforcements to deal with the extra heat produced. All sounds great in theory, but the practice means that way more downchanges are needed to accelerate fast, such as overtaking. On the 60kW Roadster, 6^th gear is a real usable gear, the engine having decent power and torque from low revs; on the Brabus, overtaking in 6^th is only possible if 1) you start overtaking at over 140 km/h, or 2) you’re driving down the Everest on a straight line. The extra go can only be felt over 4500 rpm, so you really need to rev the engine in order to notice the improved power. That’s fine in a sports car, I know, but such absence of power low-down is annoying , because you tend to up shift early in order to enjoy the better soundtrack provided by the exhaust and because the accelerator must be constantly fiddled just to maintain a certain speed. This, together with the oversized rubber, creates another problem: fuel consumption rises some 20% compared with the standard Roadster (I’m yet to measure it though).

A smaller drawback is that discretion is something the Brabus absolutely doesn’t know. Wherever you go, the Brabus is the centre of attention, but fortunately most attention it receives is positive. Even though, people tend to think it’s way faster and more expensive than it really is, so it’s slightly conspicuous. That can be a major problem on a troubled place.

So here we are. People ask me why I keep both Roadsters, especially when I tell them what you have just read: that the Brabus is an example of style over substance. Yes, the 60kW Roadster is the most genuine sports car. But the looks of the Brabus are something to celebrate, aren’t they?

Verdict: just like a Miss Universe. She may not be that intelligent, but that doesn’t stop you from staring at her.

Vital data:

Engine and transmission:

698 cc, inline-3 cylinder, 2 valves per cylinder (Otto)

101 PS (74 kW)/ 5600 rpm

130 Nm/ 2500-5300 rpm

Red line: 6300 rpm

6-speed manual transmission

Dimensions and weights:

Length/ width/ height: 3,427/ 1,615/ 1,190 metres

Turning circle: 10,7 metres

Empty weight: 820 kg

Boot: 59+86 litres (front+rear)

Fuel tank: 35 litres

Tires: 205/40 ZR17 (F), 225/35 ZR17 (R), Michelin Pilot Sport

Official performance:

Top speed: 190 km/h (119 mph)

0-100 km/h (0-62 mph): 9.8 seconds

Fuel consumption (urban/extra-urban/average): 6.6/ 4.6/ 5.3 l/100km (43/ 61/ 53 UK mpg)

CO₂ emissions: 126 g/km

3000 rpm, 5^th gear: 81 km/h (51 mph)

3000 rpm, 6^th gear: 107 km/h (67 mph)

Main equipment: air conditioning, twin front and side airbags, radio with CD player, 17” alloy wheels, ABS+ASR+ESP+hill holder, heated leather seats, electric and heated wing mirrors, fog lights, steering wheel paddles for the gearbox, electric roof.

Portuguese price in 2005: 29 000€.

Driven: from November 2012; car left with 20 400 km (12 800 miles).

Rating: 17 out of 20